If You Thought Supermarket Cards Were Scary...

from the you-ain't-seen-nothing-yet dept

If you thought those "loyalty" card programs at supermarkets were evil marketing tools, wait until you read this article about the data mining system the casino firm Harrah's has set up. It's pretty damn impressive. They try to get visitors to get a frequent players card and then they track everything and then mine that data for as much useful info as they can. While it's pretty scary to think about (and acts as a good reminder for me to just use cash next time I'm at a casino), it is somewhat fascinating to read about how the system works. Of course, I would say you should just stay home and gamble online, but now they're saying that online gamblers are more likely to get addicted. What? Without the free drinks and showgirls? You would think that the real casino attractions would be a part of the addiction - but I guess the addict is addicted to gambling - and the online version avoids any distractions.